In Barnard et al, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,009,595, owned by the assignee hereof, an ice cube making apparatus is disclosed wherein the ice is formed as a slab of clear ice sufficient in size to form a number of ice cubes. When a slab of the desired thickness is produced on an evaporator portion of the ice maker, the freezing operation is discontinued and the support on which the ice slab is formed is heated to disengage the slab of ice and cause it to move downwardly onto a grid of electrically heated wires which slowly melt through the ice separating the slab into individual cubes.
To form the ice on an evaporator plate, water is recirculated over the plate by means of a pump, the water flowing downwardly from the plate being collected in a water pan for return to an upper end of the evaporator plate by the action of the pump.
With such an ice maker, during the ice forming process the minerals and other impurities remain in the circulating water stream and only pure water solidifies as ice. The impurity rich water is then flushed from the system. The so-called clear ice is then available for withdrawal.
It has been found that when the clear ice melts the resulting product is water having very low impurity content, i.e. substantially pure water, and this water compares favorably to bottled drinking water.
The ice cube making apparatus disclosed in the Barnard et al. patent utilizes an insulated cabinet which is not refrigerated. Therefore, any ice cubes stored in a collecting bin eventually melt to produce clear water. Although such melted water is suitable for drinking, it may be contaminated due to the introduction of impurities or bacteria and the like caused by the removal of ice from the collecting bin by hands or other instruments.
The present invention is directed to solving one or more of the problems set forth above.